A Fall at Winthrop
by EightYearsandaHalf
Summary: What if Louisa fell at Winthrop, before Captain Wentworth entangled himself? The story starts in the middle of their conversation in the hedge-row.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 10_

 _"It is the worst evil of too yielding and indecisive a character, that no influence over it can be depended on. You are never sure of a good impression being durable; everybody may sway it. Let those who would be happy be firm."_

* * *

Louisa walked with Captain Wentworth, listening intently to his words. With Henrietta likely to be engaged to Charles Hayter soon, Louisa hoped to receive her own offer of marriage as well. Her mother had married at 18, Mary married her brother at 19, and Henrietta was 20. Louisa was 19 and therefore most anxious to settle down before it was too late.

She felt herself in high luck. A single man in possession of a good fortune had come into her neighborhood, and he was everything a young man ought to be: sensible, good-humoured, charming, and handsome. Captain Wentworth appeared to like her, though he was not nearly as attentive as Charles Hayter had been towards Henrietta, and she had not yet received words of interest or serious warmth from him. He seemed more willing to accept her attentions than to give his own, and she worried that he may never do more than like her, if she did not help him on.

 _Let those who would be happy be firm._

Louisa certainly wanted to be happy. She looked at their surroundings and saw a stile nearby; here was an opportunity to show the Captain just how firm her mind was, and what a lively, playful disposition she would bring to his life. She walked over to the stile and climbed to the top step.

"Catch me, Captain Wentworth!"

Captain Wentworth smiled slightly and obliged, jumping her down.

"That was delightful! I must go again."

"Miss Musgrove, we should head back to the others."

But Louisa was not done with her exhibition. She climbed back up to the top of the stile, smiled at him and said, "I am determined I will. It is only four steps. If you will not catch me, I will jump down by myself." He decided to help her and put out his hands, but in her eagerness, she was too precipitate by half a second. She landed on the ground and screamed in agony.

Anne, who sat near enough to catch the whole of the conversation, was upon them in an instant. "She was jumping from the stile. I think she has hurt her ankle," Captain Wentworth said.

Anne knelt down and gently felt around Louisa's ankle. In another minute, they were joined by Mary who had heard Louisa's scream, along with Charles, Henrietta, and Charles Hayter who had returned from Winthrop.

"I believe she has a sprain," Anne said. "We should get her seated comfortably indoors and send for the apothecary."

Charles Hayter, in high spirits from just being reunited with Henrietta, was eager to help. "Charles and I will carry her to Winthrop."

Louisa's countenance showed her distress. To be taken to Winthrop, away from Captain Wentworth! It was not to be borne. She had help in her cause from Mary.

"She cannot stay at Winthrop," cried Mary, who did not want the connection with the Hayters strengthened any further. "She had best go back to Uppercross."

"My dear Mary," said her husband, "Uppercross is a full two miles away and Winthrop is just down the hill. I am sure my aunt will not mind."

Louisa, determined to go home, spoke up. "It is not a serious injury. I can walk back to Uppercross." Everyone except Mary protested the folly of such a notion. "If Captain Wentworth will just lend me his arm." Louisa stood up quickly, then cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground again. Defeated, she reluctantly agreed to her cousin Charles' plan.

"I will stay with Louisa," Henrietta declared, with a shy smile towards Charles Hayter. He smiled back. "Yes, Miss Musgrove, of course you will want to stay with your sister. You should both stay as long as you like. I will dispatch a servant to the Great House to inform your parents and bring back a supply of clothes for you both."

Henrietta looked exceedingly pleased. Louisa looked miserable.


	2. Chapter 2

Mr. Robinson came, and having examined his patient, said that she had moderately sprained her ankle. He advised her to keep off her left foot for one week, and silently wondered why the Musgroves seemed so prone to falling lately.

Louisa inquired about returning to Uppercross, and Mr. Robinson agreed that she could be safely transported home by carriage. Mrs. Hayter, however, was so desirous to be of use to her nieces, and Henrietta so happy to stay, that together they bore down Louisa's wish for leaving as soon as possible. The whole party was already engaged to dine at Uppercross the following evening. It was decided, therefore, that the Miss Musgroves would stay the night at Winthrop, and they were not to be expected back home till the next day's dinner.

Once it was settled, Charles, Captain Wentworth, Mary and Anne proceeded back to Uppercross. Anne walked next to Mary, listening to her sister complain of having endured a visit to Winthrop for the third time in her life. Anne only nodded in sympathy, her thoughts elsewhere.

Anne wondered whether it might occur to Captain Wentworth now, to question the justness of his own previous opinion as to the universal felicity and advantage of firmness of character; and whether it might not strike him that, like all other qualities of the mind, it should have its proportions and limits. His mind was similarly engaged as he distinguished between the darings of heedlessness and the resolution of a collected mind.

After walking some time with the two ladies in front, the two gentlemen behind, there chanced to be a little alteration. Mary, feeling quite fatigued, needed her husband's arm for support. Captain Wentworth took her place by Anne, and they walked on together. He offered his arm to Anne but she sensed his reluctance; not wanting to cause discomfort for either of them, she declined. Several minutes passed by in silence. There had been a time when they would have found it most difficult to cease to speak to one another. Once so much to each other! Now nothing!

At length, Captain Wentworth said, "We are having very fine weather today."

"Yes, the weather is quite remarkable for November," she replied.

They continued on in this manner, each speaking to the other with a considerable portion of apparent indifference and calmness, and the conversation deviating only so far as to include talk of the roads and the country. Anne would have preferred silence to such common and dull subjects, which only reminded her of how slight their acquaintance had become. She sighed with relief when she finally saw Uppercross Cottage in the distance.

Captain Wentworth took leave and returned to Kellynch Hall, but not before promising Charles that he would return the next day to breakfast at the Cottage and go shooting with him.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Anne felt keenly the difference in having Captain Wentworth at the breakfast table. When they dined at the Great House, he was seated almost as far from her as the table could divide them. Today, he sat right beside her, which provided many moments of agitation. Once, their hands brushed as they both reached for the bread basket; another time, they bumped elbows as he buttered his toast and she drank her tea. She was not a great talker on most days, and today she had hardly any courage to speak, though Mary spoke enough for them both.

Mary could not talk of anything but the Miss Musgroves. She spoke at great length about Henrietta's anticipated and imprudent match. How shocking it would be for Henrietta to marry a country curate! What bad connections it would bring upon herself and her children! This drew from Anne the exertion of speaking, which nothing else had so effectually done before. She blushed for her sister and tried to turn the subject, but Mary pressed on.

"And if I had been able," said Mary, "to carry my point in turning around when we reached Winthrop yesterday, poor Louisa would not have been injured, and she and Henrietta would not have been forced to stay at that abominable house. I am sure you observed, Captain Wentworth, how little beauty and dignity the place had, standing so low and hemmed in by the barns and buildings of a farm-yard."

Captain Wentworth made no answer, only giving an artificial smile before quickly finishing his breakfast. Charles fetched the guns and dogs, and the two gentlemen set off.

As Charles and Captain Wentworth walked through Mr. Musgrove's woods, Charles said, "Mary is good-natured enough in many respects, but she does sometimes provoke us all excessively with her nonsense and pride. My sisters often tell me they wish I had married Anne instead. I suppose they have told you about it? They have a habit of telling everyone."

"No, I had not heard." After a moment's pause, Captain Wentworth said, "Do you mean that you proposed to Miss Elliot?"

"Oh! Yes. I wanted to marry Anne, but she refused me. Mamma and papa thought it was Lady Russell's doing-" Captain Wentworth started at the mention of that unwelcome name, while Charles continued, "but I did not believe it. Anne was very gentle in her refusal, but she was quite decided."

Captain Wentworth was surprised. He never doubted that Anne would be loved and sought by others. Charles Musgrove was the eldest son of a man, whose landed property and general importance were second in that country, only to Sir Walter's, and of good character. Surely Lady Russell would have been in favour of the match. Had Anne acted against Lady Russell's advice? Why had she refused Charles?

Captain Wentworth started to feel sensations in his heart that he had buried long ago. Disconcerted, he cleared his mind and turned his attention back to hunting. It was a good day for sport. The weather was favourable, the dogs pointed at the pheasants expertly, the birds were plentiful, and the gentlemen shot their targets with ease. Charles talked with great enthusiasm of his new shotgun, and Captain Wentworth listened attentively as Charles explained the advantages of the lighter weight and longer double-barrels. They caught eight brace between them before deciding to head back to the Cottage.

Mary and Anne were in the garden when the gentlemen returned, and Captain Wentworth felt his heart beat quicker when he looked at Anne. He was struck by her appearance as the soft autumn sunlight shone down on her, making her glow and highlighting her dark eyes and delicate features. How could he have thought her so wretchedly altered before? She noticed his gaze and seemed puzzled by it as a blush overspread her cheeks, rendering her even more beautiful in his eyes.

As he walked back to Kellynch Hall, Captain Wentworth's thoughts kept drifting back to Anne. She had an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, and he had never seen a woman since whom he thought her equal. Why had she refused a man of better pretensions than himself? Why was she unmarried still? He considered every possibility, dismissing the unlikelihood of each in turn, until he was left with one - the one that his heart had been whispering over and over. She must still love him.


	4. Chapter 4

Louisa and Henrietta made their return to the Great House, accompanied by Charles Hayter; the latter took the opportunity to ask for Mr. Musgrove's consent to marry Henrietta, which was readily given. Such happy news brought even higher spirits and cheerful gaiety to the dinner party that evening.

Captain Wentworth was seated next to Louisa. She tried many times to start a conversation with him and was perplexed to find him distracted and less talkative than before. He inquired politely after her health and then only gave brief answers to her questions, with no attempt to pursue further conversation despite her many smiles and compliments to the Navy. Several times throughout the meal, Anne was sensible of Captain Wentworth looking at her instead. His gazes were earnest and steadfast, but she doubted whether there were much purpose to them, and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.

After dinner, Mrs. Musgrove made her usual proposal for some dancing. Henrietta immediately agreed, eager to stand up with Charles Hayter. The two of them began walking to one end of the room, while Louisa remained seated unhappily on the sofa with her sprained ankle. Anne stood up out of habit to take her place at the pianoforte, but before she could take even one step, Captain Wentworth cried out, "Mrs. Charles Musgrove! I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing you play. I have been told you are a great proficient."

Mary's eyes brightened with delight. Everyone else looked around in surprise; none of them could imagine who would have said such a thing about Mary. She, however, was quite flattered and gladly made her way over to the instrument. Anne sat back down to watch the dancing when she found herself suddenly addressed by Captain Wentworth.

"Miss Elliot," he said in a low voice, "may I have the honour of your hand?"

Anne was so surprised that, without knowing what she did, she accepted him. She immediately fretted over her own want of presence of mind, not knowing how much more talk of weather and roads she could endure.

The rest of the party watched in amazement as Anne took Captain Wentworth's arm. They began dancing, each of them careful to maintain the proper distance at all times. There was not the slightest hint of standing too close, or hands lingering too long, as had been done long ago.

For Anne, it was a new kind of agony. She felt Captain Wentworth's gentle hold on her hand, his eyes steadily fixed on her face, the warmth of his body next to hers. It took all her strength to not close her eyes and allow herself to be carried back to the past, to that distant summer when she had danced till her feet ached and then danced some more.

The sound of Henrietta's laughter brought her back. Henrietta and Charles Hayter could barely contain their joy. Captain Wentworth looked at them and said to Anne, "The visit to Winthrop seems to have had some happy consequences."

Anne smiled. "Yes. I am very pleased for Henrietta and Charles Hayter."

"Such excellent parents as Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove do everything to confer happiness, I am sure. They seem totally free from all those ambitious feelings which have led to so much misconduct and misery, more than perhaps -"

He stopped, realising what he was about to say. Anne's cheeks reddened and she fixed her eyes on the ground. He cleared his throat and said,

"How much longer do you remain at Uppercross?"

"I will leave in one week."

"So soon," he whispered, as if he had been talking to himself.

"Now that Mary is feeling better and little Charles is gaining strength apace, I have nothing else to stay for. I will soon join my father and older sister in Bath." She decided not to mention the part about staying with Lady Russell at Kellynch Lodge; he would shortly find out, and her name would only bring them both pain.

"I am glad that you came to Uppercross," he said earnestly. "And for your father to let Kellynch Hall, and my sister and the Admiral to take possession of it - such extraordinary circumstances occurring at the same time!" He smiled slightly and gave her a look of meaning. "Perhaps it was the arrangement of Providence, that you and I were reacquainted after all this time."

Anne was struck by his words; to speak to her with not only great civility, but a degree of intimacy! Could she have believed it a day ago; three hours ago! She knew not what to think, or how to account for it. Why was he so altered? She did not believe that Louisa's minor injury could have effected so great a change.

After waiting a few moments he said, and as if it were the result of immediate feeling, "It is a period, indeed! Eight years is a period."

She saw a glow in his face and a tenderness in his eyes, which seemed almost restoring the past. She colored deeply and looked away, thankful that the two dances were over. His present feelings confused her greatly, and she required a period of solitude to reflect on it all.

He escorted her to a chair and, before leaving, said quietly as he pressed her hand, "Thank you, Miss Elliot. I had been told that you had given up dancing, but I am very happy that is not the case."


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's note - final chapter! I confess my whole purpose in writing this story was to have Anne and Frederick dance together. With that done, I am now happy to wrap things up. I realize I could drag this out much longer, but I like speedier resolutions. :)_

* * *

Anne was sitting by herself in the drawing-room the next morning, and writing to Elizabeth while Mary and Charles were gone on business into the village, when she heard a visitor approaching the Cottage. The door opened and, to her great surprise, Captain Wentworth entered the room. He seemed astonished too on finding her alone, though not at all displeased.

He apologised for the intrusion and asked her to convey a message to Mary and Charles. He had received a letter from his friend, Captain Harville. It brought intelligence of Captain Harville's being settled at Lyme for the winter, less than twenty miles away. Captain Wentworth's anxiety to see his friend had determined him to set off for Lyme that same day.

Anne assured him that she would to deliver the message, and she thought the visit was over, as he must wish to prepare for his journey. He, however, did not seem ready to go.

She was sensible of his being less at ease than formerly. He sat down for a few moments, and then getting up again, walked about the room. He seemed agitated and apprehensive, very different from the decided and confident temper that he usually possessed. Anne was bewildered, but said not a word. After a silence of several minutes, he came towards her, and thus began:

"I must speak to you while I have this opportunity. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years ago. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. Tell me, am I too late? Are such precious feelings gone for ever?"

He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her.

"Anne," said he, "whatever the event of this quarter hour's conversation, I must know at once. A word, a look will be enough to decide whether I come back to Uppercross or never."

Anne was almost ready to sink under the agitation of this moment. The dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps the most prominent feeling. She could command herself enough to receive his look, and not repulsively. The cheeks which had been pale now glowed, and the movements which had hesitated were decided. He walked over to her and took her hand.

"My dearest Anne," he said in a tone of sincere, decided tenderness. "I have been used to the gratification of believing myself to earn every blessing that I enjoyed. Like other great men under reverses, I must endeavour to subdue my mind to my fortune. I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve."

* * *

Who can be in doubt of what followed?

Captain Wentworth made his trip to Lyme, then proceeded on to Bath to secure Sir Walter's consent. The latter made no objection; though he had no affection for Anne, and no vanity flattered, to make him really happy on the occasion, he was very far from thinking it a bad match for her.

Once Captain Wentworth returned to Uppercross, the happy news was shared with everyone.

Lady Russell had just returned to Kellynch Lodge, and though she suffered some pain in understanding Anne's decision, she would come to learn that she had been mistaken with regard to Captain Wentworth. If her second object was to be sensible and well-judging, her first was to see Anne happy.

Admiral Croft was excessively delighted, and his wife even more so. Mrs. Croft looked forward to having another sister, and regarded Anne as an excellent match for her brother in every way.

Mary was most immediately gratified by the circumstance. It was creditable to have a sister married, and she might flatter herself with having been greatly instrumental to the connexion, by keeping Anne with her at Uppercross.

The news of the engagement burst on Louisa most unexpectedly. She had not thought that a sprained ankle could alter Captain Wentworth's course so quickly and so dramatically. She was forced to acknowledge that while a firm mind was beneficial when dealing with the nonsensical pride of others, it was quite the opposite when obstinately fixed on its own silly notions. Luckily for her, she was still young and not too fastidious. After allowing a short time for an improvement in her ankle, mind and spirits, she would soon find her own happiness with another.

THE END


End file.
